Dead Flies in Tequila

continued

He doesn't blame the messenger. "Our inspector is great. She explains things as she goes and goes over it all again at the end. It's up to us to correct things, and we do." More recent inspections show improvement, especially in the items Johns notes.

Like the owners of Bandito's, the Blue Nile, and the Lunch Room, the Grange's owner says inspections are "absolutely" necessary. Johns started in the business in the 1990s and says "employees are getting better, and owners and operators are taking it more seriously. The majority of restaurants put a lot of effort into passing, into keeping a clean kitchen and doing it right. I know we do."

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Professional ethics forbid the sanitarians from commenting on specific restaurants, but they've spent enough time in them to know why things go right--and wrong.

"Anybody can have a bad day," says Denise Bernbeck. "Three people called in sick, the refrigerator's down, and the dishwasher is on the fritz."